As repugnant as these nouveau-cowboy colonizers are, they are not, as individuals, the problem: they are expressions of a system that is destroying the earth and exploiting working people, cleverly justified with an ideology of do-good philanthropy. They are given too much of a free ride by an uncritical media. The answer to polluting industry on earth is not to send it to the moon but create socialist solutions on earth.

In this webinar, leading figures from the left in Canada and the United States reflect on the legacy of Leo Panitch, Professor Emeritus of Politics at York University and editor of the Socialist Register. Leo passed away in December 2020. Panitch is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and nine books including The Making of Global Capitalism, written with his close friend and university colleague Sam Gindin.

Protests began in Cuba on July 11, and a clear transformation in the institutional political discourse has occurred in recent days. Since the president’s J-11 “combat order,” the language has progressively transitioned to a vocabulary of conciliation and calls for solidarity, unity, and peace. That matters. Now, an extensive discussion and political transformation that allows the protests to be processed is essential.

The real challenges for the left today are not about big names and bold ideas. They’re about identity and mobilization. We’ve been led to believe that elections are about individual voters examining parties and their policies like consumers looking for the best deal while parties are policy entrepreneurs just trying to meet consumer demands. But research on voters and party behaviour doesn’t support such a view.

At a time when concerted effort is required to address the overlapping crises of the climate, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic inequality, and racial injustice, perhaps more activists should, in fact, seek a seat in the House of Commons. And maybe, when the votes are counted in the next federal election, there will be another Lewis pounding on the desk, demanding justice and equality for all Canadians.

While we should guard against illusions, there are reasons to be optimistic about the current prospects for the federal NDP and what I have called a “rekindling of democratic socialism.” The NDP seem set to offer a clear left alternative to the Liberals. That is good news indeed, not just in electoral terms, but also in terms of rekindling democratic socialism.

At this critical time a voice that challenges the power of capital is a welcome prospect. Avi Lewis is not afraid to ask and tackle the tough questions we face collectively. He has both the moral courage and the policy credentials that have the potential to add substance to the NDP. The party must embrace the opportunity that his candidacy represents.

Avi Lewis sees his role as part of a rising progressive group of politicians. The challenge before us is epic. But in the cataclysmic times we are living in, anything is possible, even reforming the NDP. Just like the Waffle emerged in the tumultuous 1960s, so a new feminist, anti-racist, eco-socialist movement can emerge today inside the NDP. That is my hope and I know that Avi will be part of making it happen.

Assessing Avi Lewis’s run for a parliamentary seat and possible longer term ambitions must be put into context if it has any meaning for the left other than to shake things up a bit. The real question is whether this can be seen as part of a larger effort to radically transform Canadian politics and the New Democratic Party, and whether such a project has any real prospects.

Choosing when is the right time to let go is hard. The decision becomes much easier when the pain and suffering outweigh the benefits of living. Over the last 14 months, we’ve seen an economy on life support. Are we ignoring the suffering it brings and simply keeping the system alive because we cannot imagine life without it?